Sunday, June 08, 2008

I had a slow start to Day 10. I went on a hike in Red Rock Canyon and then stayed at home to write. Yes, I was hiding out and writing from the comforts of the pool at Scheckytown for a few hours before I made the trek to the Rio.

Six events were running on Day 10 including two final tables. Everyone in the room was wondering about Vinny Vinh who ended his event the chipelader with 18 to go.

You know it's a good day when I'm taking my smoke break by the pool. Today's smoke break is brought to you by Johnny Hughes.

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5:01pm...

Event #11 Final Table: Six left. Greg "FBT" Mueller is still the chipleader.

Event #12 Limit: Down to 13. Vinny Vinh began the day as the chipleader. His empty chair made a token appearance before he finally showed up almost one hour late. Change100 said, "He was looking like shit." He's still in the Top 5 in chips.

Event #13 2.5K NL: Under 100 to go. Theo Tran is still at the top.

Event #14 10K Stud: With 59 to go, Aussie Millions winner Alexander Kostritsyn from Russia is the chipleader. Top 18 get paid. Archie Karas, Tony G, and Shannon ELizabeth all still alive. Doyle Brunson and Fossilman both busted.

Arrived at the Rio and I walked through the Ladies Event to say hello to Change100 since that's her assignment today. The most uncomfortable moments for me during previous WSOPs have been during Ladies Events. Lots of tension in the air.

Event #11 Final Table: Down to four. TMay420 busted. Greg "FBT" Mueller was the chipleader. Now it's Leo Wolpert in front.

Event #12 Limit: Down to 10. Final Table bubble. Vinny Vinh is the short stack.

Event #11 Final Table: Down to 3. Philip Tom, Leo Wolpert and FBT all have about the same size stack.

Event #12 Limit: Erick Lindgren bubbled off the final table in 10th place. Action has been paused while they set up the final table. Story of the day... Vinnie Vinh makes final table in Event #12. Vinh is 6th in chips but anything can happen at a final table.

Event #14 10K Stud: David Benyamine out in front with one of the big stacks. Men the Master, Shannon Elizabeth, and Rolf Slotboom were recently eliminated. 45 players remaining. Archie Karas and The G are still alive.

Event #15 Ladies: The Ladies are dropping like flies. 230 left out of 1,190. This year's field experienced a lower number of entrants than the 2007 Ladies event. Amanda Leatherman has some chips... after she doubled up against Kathy Liebert. Oh and the cougar, Michele Lewis, is shortstacked but still alive. Maridu, Tao of Poker's favorite spicy Brazilian dish, was super short with 1K in chips. She's been on a tear and built her stack up to over 12K. "I'm at the most lesbian table. They're scratching their balls," shejoked as she passed the press box on her dinner break.

Event #16 08: Phil Hellmuth arrived 90 minutes late in true Hellmuthian fashion. George "Scarf Boy" Danzer is pissed drunk according to Homer. He watched the Germany victory over Poland in the European Championships so he must have consumed a few too many pops.

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8:46pm...

My buddy StB stopped by the Rio. We had dinner at McFadden's which replaced my beloved Tilted Kilt. The waitresses are new. Change100 prefers the turnover because the Tilted Kilt girls used to hit on me that would send her on mega-tilt.

Event #11 Final Table: Heads up between Greg Mueller and Phillip Tom. Tom has the chiplead.

Event #12 Limit Final Table: Seven players left. Vinny Vinh third in chips and acting as weird as ever. Benjo caught some of his antics. A floor supervisor had to touch his chips for some reason and Vinh went nuts for about fifteen minutes. Random media reps and suits are milling around awaiting a possible blow up.

Event #14 10K Stud: David Benyamine is the chipleader with 34 players left. Phil Ivey is playing and sweating the Lakers losing effort against the Celtics. Archie Karas is still alive... despite getting crippled.

Event #15 Ladies: Just got back from dinner break. Van Nguyen (Men's wife) is the chipleader. Linda Johnson and Kathy Liebert are near the top. 213 ladies remaining.

Event #16 08: Tom "DonkeyBomber" Schneider bombed out along with VietHottie and Fossilman. 553 runners in this event. Top 54 get paid. Hoyt Corkins is the chipleader.

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9:46pm...

Vinny Vinh's event is on a dinner break and I saw him in the hallway. He was sort of screaming Vietnamese phrases to Men the Master and CK Hua, before he gave Men the Master a high-five and bolted down the hall.

Event #12 Limit Final Table: Down to 4. Vinny Vinh is third in chips. He was all in for his tournament life ans doubled up. He keeps getting up and walking over to the floor guy and asks to see the payout sheet. Vinh has about 4-6 railbirds... all Vietnamese guys including one thuggy-looking dude.

Event #13 2.5K NL: Liz Lieu eliminated in 28th place.

Event #14 10K Stud: Young Ruskie Alexander Kostritsyn is back on top. Annie Duke just got eliminated. Down to 24. Archie Karas is sooooooo close to cashing.

Event #15 Ladies: 126 remaining. Amanda Leatherman is short and she's short on chips. She told me to bet the Celtics yesterday. I should have listened to her. Maridu is up to 28K. Sweet Svetlana from the Borgata also has a decent stack. Lacey Jones, Michele Lewis, Jerri Thomas, and Mandy Baker are all out.

Here's a video that Maridu put together... one of my readers must have searched for her and stumbled upon it...

I heart Brazilian women.

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11:46pm...

Event #12 Limit Final Table: Down to 3. Vinh had been playing with a dirty stack every since he returned from dinner break. He was down to his last eight chips at one point, yet managed to hold on and make the final three. I goota say that his performance is impressive considering how whacked out he is.

I keep looking over at the guys on the rail who are keeping a keen eye on Vinh. Occasionally, Vinh wanders over and one guy whispers something into his ear. Vinh Shrieks something in his native tongue and slithers back to his table.

Vinh as third in chips but rallied to jump into second place.

Event #14 10K Stud: David Benyamine is out. Sadly, Archie Karas comeback fell short when he was eliminated in 23rd place. Archie Karas was just five more spots from cashing in his first WSOP since 2005. 21 to go.

Event #15 Ladies: A large roar let out of the corner of the Amazon ballroom as the Ladies money bubble broke. They clapped and cheered for a couple of minutes. Less than 99 to go.

Event #16 08: Under 370 to go. Gobboboy was the chipleader.

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12:31am...

Event #12 Limit Table: Vinny Vinh eliminated in third place. He won $0. His backers won $99,099. "Busting probably kept him alive," said one media rep.

Event #13 2.5K NL: Down to 18 and the final two tables. Shawn Buchanan is the chipleader. Benjo's roommate Nicholas Levi from France is 10th in chips.